Is it a bird, or a man! Wait, it is a Birdman!

The second term at HEC MBA is comparatively more hectic than the first one. Not only, we have an additional course, but the number of readings and assignments have grown at an exponential rate. That pretty much explains my absence from the blog for so long. Nevertheless, we have a mid-term break of one week, which based on your preference can be used for treks, networking or touring around the globe. While most of my classmates have flown out of France for one or more of the aforementioned reasons, I am sitting in my nearly-deserted hostel, waiting for an embassy to process my visa.

I have decided to utilize this opportunity to cover some of the most recommended movies, basis vox populi, on my to-watch list. During the past 48 hours, I have covered Imitation Game, American Sniper, and Birdman. While the first two are really good, Birdman belongs to an entirely different genre and amused me much more than the first two. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) is a dark comedy, about an erstwhile actor famous for his superhero role (as Birdman) struggling to make a place in a world of viral videos, Twitter and an audience with the attention span of a goldfish.

While Keaton, tries to gain back his fan base, prestige and fame through one last shot at making it big by acting in and directing a play adapted from a Raymond Carver love story, the Birdman (a blast from his past) becomes his shoulder critic, mocking and invigorating him, in the most vulnerable moments of his life. There are, essentially, two worlds in the movie - first, when Keaton is with Birdman, and the second, when Keaton is with everyone else. In the Birdman world, Keaton has the powers of levitation, telekinesis, and unassisted flying!

And the best part was the movie, except for the last 10-minute shot, appears to have been shot in a single take! I must give credit to the cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, famous for his work in Gravity, for the whole movie looks like a single shot. The camera chases the actors on the stage of the Broadway theater and the green rooms and hallways attached to the theater. It also follows Edward Norton and Michael Keaton around the New York town in pubs and streets.

Birdman ends on a mystical note. It ends at a point where the two realities of Keaton's life somewhat fuse together, and makes you wonder "What the hell just happened?" I actually spent an hour reading varied interpretations and possible endings based on the last 5 seconds of the movie, where Emma Stone is shown looking out of the window, and giving a metaphorical smile!

Emma Stone - Birdman

Pic courtesy: www.liveforfilms.com

Birdman is not a typical drama. It is meant to get extreme positive or negative reactions - you can not watch the movie and have no opinion on it. From my side, it is a highly recommended movie!